“Stairway To Heaven” has been selected for preservation in the National Recording Registry of the Library of Congress. Pieces of music that are “culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant” and are least 10 years old can be added to the registry. “The familiarity of ‘Stairway to Heaven’ can obscure the fact that it is a carefully crafted song,” reads the song’s description on the Library of Congress’ website.

A new guest essay by writer Mick Wall hosted on the website calls the song “perhaps the grandest, certainly most affecting musical statement of [Jimmy Page’s] generation.” NPR will produce another series of its show “The Sounds of America” that examines some of the songs included on the registry. It’s currently unclear if “Stairway To Heaven” will be featured in the new season which will be available here.

Led Zeppelin’s record label accidentally removed the trailer for the still-unreleased documentary film “Becoming Led Zeppelin” from YouTube for several days due to a copyright mix-up. Warner Music Group sent a copyright claim to media outlet The Playlist over the trailer to the film that was hosted on their YouTube channel and includes the Led Zeppelin song “Good Times Bad Times”.

After we pointed out the issue, which also resulted in the trailer becoming unavailable on Led Zeppelin’s official website, the video was restored. There is still no sign of the film being released, despite it being screened in 2021.

Jimmy Page

An expanded box set release of the 1993 album Coverdale Page appears to be a non-starter after David Coverdale admitted in a new interview that he “never had time” to work on it. Coverdale has, since 2018, discussed his hopes to remaster the original album and include unreleased songs he recorded with Jimmy Page, but now says the project’s fate is uncertain.

Coverdale’s comment in his new interview with Ultimate Classic Rock that Page “has potentially exhausted the Led Zeppelin catalogue” leaving him free to work on the Coverdale Page album in the future is likely to raise eyebrows, especially in light of Page’s surprise release of “The Rain Song” demo track “The Seasons” in March which was the first official release of Led Zeppelin music since the band’s Record Store Day single in 2018.

Our sources say the Led Zeppelin catalogue is not exhausted, even after the band’s remastered and expanded albums were released. Whether the remaining material comes to light is another matter, however.

Robert Plant

Robert Plant’s busy year of touring with Alison Krauss in April to July and then Saving Grace in August to September is looking even busier with the addition of two shows to his touring schedule. Firstly, Plant will now perform with Krauss at the Montreal Jazz Festival on July 7.

And Plant’s band Saving Grace will now end their upcoming tour with a show in Ourense, Spain on September 9.

Recording sessions have taken place for Saving Grace’s debut album (and Plant has even taken the rare step of trademarking the band’s name) but so far there’s no sign of the album’s release.

As a reminder, Plant’s official mailing list announced in December that he plans to release the second Band Of Joy album in 2023 along with an expanded edition of the 1984 album The Honeydrippers: Volume One.

Upcoming events:

• 2023 – The second Band Of Joy album titled “Band Of Joy Volume 2” will be released and an expanded edition of the Honeydrippers album “The Honeydrippers: Volume One” will be released.
• April 25 – Robert Plant and Alison Krauss will perform in Shreveport, Louisiana.
• April 26 – Robert Plant and Alison Krauss will perform in The Woodlands, Texas.
• April 28 – Robert Plant and Alison Krauss will perform at the New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival in New Orleans, Louisiana.
• April 29 – Robert Plant and Alison Krauss will perform in Pelham, Alabama.
• April 30 – Robert Plant and Alison Krauss will perform in Huntsville, Alabama.
• May 2 – Robert Plant and Alison Krauss will perform in Louisville, Kentucky.
• May 3 – Robert Plant and Alison Krauss will perform in Huber Heights, Ohio.
• May 5 – Robert Plant and Alison Krauss will perform in Kansas City, Missouri.
• May 7 – Robert Plant and Alison Krauss will perform at the Beale Street Music Festival in Memphis, Tennessee.
• May 9 – Robert Plant and Alison Krauss will perform in Asheville, North Carolina.
• May 10 – Robert Plant and Alison Krauss will perform in Wilmington, North Carolina.
• May 12 – Robert Plant and Alison Krauss will perform in St. Augustine, Florida.
• May 13 – Robert Plant and Alison Krauss will perform in Chattanooga, Tennessee.
• May 15 – Robert Plant and Alison Krauss will perform in Charlotte, North Carolina.
• May 18 – Robert Plant and Alison Krauss will perform in Charlottesville, Virginia.
• May 27 – The latest John Bonham celebration event will be held in Redditch.
• June 14 – Robert Plant and Alison Krauss will perform in Las Vegas, Nevada.
• June 15 – Robert Plant and Alison Krauss will perform in Tucson, Arizona.
• June 17 – Robert Plant and Alison Krauss will perform in Taos, New Mexico.
• June 18 – Robert Plant and Alison Krauss will perform at the Telluride Bluegrass Festival in Telluride, Colorado.
• June 20 – Robert Plant and Alison Krauss will perform in Bonner, Montana.
• June 23 – Robert Plant and Alison Krauss will perform on Willie Nelson’s Outlaw Music Festival Tour in Somerset, Wisconsin.
• June 24 – Robert Plant and Alison Krauss will perform on Willie Nelson’s Outlaw Music Festival Tour in East Troy, Wisconsin.
• June 25 – Robert Plant and Alison Krauss will perform on Willie Nelson’s Outlaw Music Festival Tour in St. Louis, Missouri.
• June 28 – Robert Plant and Alison Krauss will perform in Cuyahoga Falls, Ohio.
• June 29 – Robert Plant and Alison Krauss will perform in Vienna, Virginia.
• July 1 – Robert Plant and Alison Krauss will perform in Bethel, New York.
• July 2 – Robert Plant and Alison Krauss will perform in Lenox, Massachusetts.
• July 3 – Robert Plant and Alison Krauss will perform in Portland, Maine.
• July 5 – Robert Plant and Alison Krauss will perform in Toronto, Ontario.
• July 7 – Robert Plant and Alison Krauss will perform at the Montreal Jazz Festival in Montreal, Canada.
• July 8 – Robert Plant and Alison Krauss will perform at RBC Bluesfest in Ottawa, Ontario.
• August 24 – Robert Plant will perform with Saving Grace in Portorož, Slovenia.
• August 26 – Robert Plant will perform with Saving Grace in Lignano Sabbiadoro, Italy.
• August 28 – Robert Plant will perform with Saving Grace in Macerata, Italy.
• August 30 – Robert Plant will perform with Saving Grace in Taormina, Sicily, Italy.
• September 1 – Robert Plant will perform with Saving Grace at the Locus Festival in Bari, Italy.
• September 3 – Robert Plant will perform with Saving Grace in Ostia, Italy.
• September 5 – Robert Plant will perform with Saving Grace in Milan, Italy.
• September 6 – Robert Plant will perform with Saving Grace at the Vicenza in Festival in Vicenza, Italy.
• September 9 – Robert Plant will perform with Saving Grace in Ourense, Spain.

Q: When is a Led Zeppelin album not a Led Zeppelin album?

A: When it’s Walking Into Clarksdale.

Jimmy Page and Robert Plant : Walking Into Clarksdale (Mercury)

Well it’s certainly not ‘Led Zeppelin II as if anyone would have been daft to enough to think it would be! And initially, it may leave the listener slightly confused, but eventually this long awaited new studio album continues in the grand Page Plant tradition of moving ever onwards. In doing so they constantly refuse to merely retread the formulas of old and instead opt for innovation and surprise.

If anything, it’s something of another walk with Walter. I would draw parallel to the overall feel of the album with that of their spring 1972 Stargroves composition Walter’s Walk, which finally saw the light of day on Coda. That track has a monolithic feel that takes some plays to rise to the surface, and contains an intensity that initially may cloud it’s impressive content. But when it’s quality becomes apparent then it really hits home. So it is with Walking Into Clarksdale.

Whilst there are no blatant Zeppelin re-spray jobs, the album is littered with subtle elements of their past. One of the joys of the album is searching them out. One thing’s for sure though, this is an album that has to be worked at. However, given repeated listening, it does begin to fall into place, and the full fruits of their labour (all 35 days, if the press release is to be believed!) begins to unfold.

Much of the album carries a melancholic and wistful feel – presenting songs that carry a reflective lyrical theme. In tracks such as When The World Was Young, When I Was A Child and Heart In Your Hand, Robert seems to be pensively re-assessing events that have gone before (‘’Do your lips still call my name, would your mouth still taste the same’’). It makes for some of his most personal lyrical statements in song for a very long time. ‘’A bit of emotional debris,’’ is how he described the theme of some of the song’s to Mojo’s Matt Snow.

I’ve had many a memorable premier of their work in the past – I can recall vividly exactly where I was the first time I heard Physical Graffiti, Presence, Pictures At Eleven etc. – and this new Page Plant album was always going to be an epic initial playback. So there I was, holed up in the TBL office around 9pm on a cold early ’98 Wednesday night faced with the huge expectation of this new album, knowing that over the coming months these songs would be the soundtrack to my life and countless other like-minded fans across the world.

As the semi acoustic groove of Shining In The Light swung in it was a huge relief to finally be listening to new Page & Plant music. As that familiar guitar style oozed from the speakers and that voice opened up… well I knew I was in the best company again. Subsequently some of the content did seem to wash over on that initial hearing.

Having lived with it for a while now, well, it’s excellence is more than evident. It carries so much vitality and most importantly it carries a totally contemporary feel. This isn’t a museum piece as Jimmy stated recently, this is new music that can line up with any of the best of today’s modern outfits such as The Verve. Lets face it, there are few other songwriters of 30 years standing who can rival that feat.

In terms of the musical performance and production, Steve Albini’s role seems to have been more about capturing a clear sound than bringing in the rough edge that has been the focus of his work with The Pixies and PJ Harvey. Robert’s vocals throughout are a sheer delight, singing with clarity and conviction and aided by a very up-front vocal mix. Jimmy, meantime, appears to be concentrating on his strength as a craftsman of guitar sound rather than churning out endless solos.

Some may bemoan the lack of guitar army tactics but by adopting this method there is a subtlety and surprise element (that swift guitar change in the title track for instance) in his performance that is a joy to hear. Michael Lee once again more than  proves his worth to the set up ably supported by Charlie’s bass work. Aside from the odd cameo from Ed Shearmer and Tim Whelan, it’s the basic ‘four-man, live-in-the-studio’ format that has worked so well on stage in recent weeks.

Outstanding moments? Quite a few. The way they kick in relentlessly on the chorus of When The World Was Young, with all the spark of on the road spirit of ’72 Zeppelin. The way the string arrangement comes seeping in on Upon A Golden Horse – the whole track has the bizarre lyrical content that has lit up many a Plant prose in the past- and carries a great swirling sound reminiscent of Four Sticks.

Please Read The Letter opens with Sick Again like riffing from Page before settling into a very West Coast repetitive romp that echoes the work of Moby Grape and vocally, finds Plant aping the style of Roy Orbison. Most High comes over as almost a separate entity from the rest of the album with it’s Arabic tendencies offering a last glance back to the world of Unledded. I felt this sound-ed a little perfunctory as a studio track, however, it’s elevation as a live piece seems to have rectified those initial shortcomings.

The title track is a great throw back to the off-the-cuff rockabilly tradition of Candy Store Rock. With it’s jolting time change it could easily have taken it’s place on Presence, and that second solo is pure Telecaster heaven reminiscent of the fluttering style Page deployed on those final Yardbirds recordings (Think About It springs to mind).

Burning Up and House Of Love are where the guitarist steps up a gear. The former is embellished throughout by that crunching riff – a real slashing affair that jumps out of the speakers, propelled along by Lee’s tom tom barrage. It’s here that Page really steps on it, proving, if proof was needed, that he can pump those solos out in his sleep. The latter finds Page pressing down on the wah wah delightfully underpinning the incessant drum track in support of Plants “It’s just a little too much’’ pleadings.

Sons Of Freedom comes complete with a Prodigy like urgency aided by yet more impressive drumming – it’s vaguely in the style of Network News from Robert’s Fate Of Nations album, and jumps around feverishly before it all grinds to a percussive halt. It’s worth mentioning that after this track the Japanese version for the album carries the bonus Whiskey In The Glass, which is nothing more than a studio jam taped towards the end of the sessions. It’s set against a Bo Diddley Mona syncopated beat with Page playing that reverberated phased guitar style heard on Rude World, and Plant in his best ad-lib vocal, but fades prematurely at under three minutes just as it’s getting warmed up.

That leaves the trio of performances that best capture that aforementioned melancholy feel. Heart In Your Hand took a while to register, initially sounding like something from a Chris Isaac album. However this is one of the prime growers.Page plays some deft Dick Dale phrasing behind Plant’s reflective longing. Overall, the song captures a dark and brooding soundtrack feel.

When I Was A Child opens with a memorable reverberating tremolo. Then Robert comes in to deliver a haunting narrative that casts an oblique shadow over his past. Page adds a suitable restrained solo and at the finale Plant ad-libs the final lines with delicate finesse, “Oh you know, so I wander through your garden, grow, when I was a boy, I was a boy…” One of the stand-out tracks and one of Robert’s best vocal performances in years.

Then there is Blue Train. Opening with some slow moving bass and timpani before Robert’s mournful vocal seeps in. It then up-lifts via some strident Zeppelinish dynamics and features a beautifully plangent Byrds like jangling guitar solo constructed in a way that is just quintessential Jimmy Page. At the close Robert raises the tempo, “Hear the blue train, hear the blue train’’, before it all calms to a close. Lyrically, there’s a reflective longing that is as close to home for Robert as perhaps I Believe was.

For me When I Was a Child and Blue Train are performance’s to rank right up there with Ten Years Gone and Down By The Seaside, as they both display that unique emotional dynamism that has always characterised their best work.

So ends another walk with Walter. It’s not instant, and some of it takes a while to register but there can be no denying the sheer quality of this long awaited work. In the shadow of the Zeppelin, but essentially Page & Plant music of today, Walking Into Clarksdale may turn out to be one of the most durable and ultimately satisfying albums of their entire career.

Dave Lewis – April 17, 1998.

Postscript – April  2023:

Walking Into Clarksdale may turn out to be one of the most durable and ultimately satisfying albums of their entire career.

Looking back that was a bit of a bold statement – Walking Into Clarksdale has actually gone down as quite a low key album. There’s no doubt it still divides opinion amongst fans.

The rather thin production and lack of wide screen riffling -something so evident on Jimmy’s previous studio project – the Coverdale Page album, does reduce it’s overall impact. That said, much of it still sounds great – from the light and breezy opener Shining In the Light through to the still superb Blue Train (one of the best ever Page Plant alliances in or out of Zep) and wonderfully affecting When I Was A Child – it still has much to delight. Only the rather cumbersome Burning Up and Sons of Freedom have really paled that much.

It’s a discerningly strange album – it may not be high on the playlist but when I do play it  – it always hits the mark and like I said, this album is steeped in late 90s memories. Walking Into Clarksdale is therefore something of a durable minor league classic.

I’ve just played it through and aside from sounding really good – it inspired a wave of personal 1990s nostalgic memories of the time – Istanbul, Shepard’s Bush Empire, managing the Our Price Record shop, the big Victoria Record Fairs, meets at the Eastern Monk pub. This was the last opportunity we had to revel in a union of Jimmy Page and Robert Plant together. Great days indeed.

Have a listen to Walking Into Clarksdale again – I think you will be pleasantly surprised of the impact.